Why the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is not internationally recognized: an analysis of the SADR and the Great Powers

Abstract

After the fall of the USSR and Yugoslavia, the international recognition regime changed from being based on largely descriptive criteria to increasingly adding normative criteria. The role of the great powers - here defined as the US, the UK, France, China, and Russia/USSR - in deciding which entities manage to obtain independence and become a member of the UN has gained scholarly focus in the same period. This thesis seeks to add to the growing scientific knowledge by identifying what the motivations of the great powers are when approaching a conflict where an entity seeks independence. Specifically, this thesis investigates the case of Western Sahara. While claiming the whole territory, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) controls over approximately 20% of the territory, with Morocco controlling the remaining 80%. It is an interesting case as international law and several UN resolutions state that the people of the territory should be given the right to self-determination. The question then is why this is not the case. This thesis finds that instrumental motives are far more important than affective when the great powers decide on their approach to the Western Sahara conflict. To the great powers, Morocco is a partner too important to provoke. Although different reasons have been of different...